Singer Liam Payne says it has been complicated to co-parent his son, Bear, amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

During an Instagram Live, the singer, 27, told producer Ben Winston that he gets tested for COVID-19 before visiting his son, reports people.com.

"I went and saw Bear today. We had a little hangout which was quite nice as I hadn't seen him in a couple of weeks," Payne said.

Payne co-parents his son with former partner Cheryl after the pair split in July 2018. The former One Direction member admitted that visiting his son is "hard with the COVID thing".

"It's hard with the COVID thing as I have to make sure I'm negative before I go over and see him so it's having to wait that couple of days before you can test so... he's only up the street and it's dead complicated but he's gotten so big, huge," he added.

Earlier, Payne told PEOPLE that it's been a bizarre experience seeing his child become a fully-formed human.

"It's been a difficult ride, but it's fantastic watching him grow into the person he's become. He's a really lovely boy and I feel like he's in the middle of settling into himself," he said.

"He looks exactly like me, which is very strange. When family members see baby pictures of me now, they say, 'Oh wow, Bear looks really great there!' " Payne added.